Jimi Hendrix's 'Are You Experienced' turns 50 years old?!

[KitKat]

We’re Still Chasing the High of ‘Are You Experienced’ 50 Years Later



When you tell people that Are You Experienced, the iconic debut LP from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, is turning 50 this year, the news is generally met with genuine disbelief.

How is it possible for music that still sounds so futuristic to be a half-century old?

That’s the conundrum at the heart of seeing the Summer of Love hit its golden anniversary in 2017—especially in the context of Jimi Hendrix, a former Army paratrooper and guitar-for-hire on the R&B Chitlin circuit who left for England in 1966 and returned to America a transformed man who had just unlocked the inner secrets of his upside down Fender Stratocaster.

When Jimi Hendrix released Are You Experienced on May 12, 1967 his debut album hit like a pipe bomb.

The scattershot of its shrapnel has since influenced generations of aspiring guitarists, songwriters and musicians of all stripes to think far beyond the confines of the three-minute pop song while rewiring its very concept all at the same time.

Hendrix was only in this dimension for a short while. He died on September 18, 1970 at age 27 in a London hotel just two and a half years after releasing his debut album. But the heights he reached on Are You Experienced are timeless.



http://observer.com/2017/05/jimi-hendrix-are-you-experienced-50th-anniversary-album-review/

[Pervertedneighbor]

Was driving along this evening with the windows open and the Band of Gypsys album cranked.  "Machine Gun" live, a personal favorite.  He touches generation after generation
of hearts and minds (except for the closed ones) and continues to be one of the greatest innovators of the guitar who ever lived.  To think he only lived to be 27...

[watcher1]

I remember driving to Kansas and having "Are You Experienced" stuck in my 8-track player and listening over and over to the album.  Back then, especially once away from large urban areas, all the radio stations available were either about farm reports or preaching.  Much preferred Jimi.

Wow!  Has it been 50 years? 

[KitKat]

That whole album is timeless. He was a very special person.

[NaughtyNicole]

That whole album is timeless. He was a very special person.

So very true on both accounts!!!  Every generation has their music icons but there will never be another like Jimi!

[KitKat]

That whole album is timeless. He was a very special person.

So very true on both accounts!!!  Every generation has their music icons but there will never be another like Jimi!

For sure.